Rumours

Mahindra To Launch Three High Performance Electric Vehicles Soon!

by Swati Sanchayi on Wednesday, Jan 24 2018

Mahindra & Mahindra has been working really hard in order to increase the use of electric vehicles among the Indian customers. Now, the automaker has announced that it will add three new EVs to its lineup by 2019-20. The announcement was made at an electric vehicle conclave held at the Norwegian embassy in New Delhi. Mahindra had launched its first EV back in 2011 and the automaker has been promoting the use of EVs in the country since then.

Making the announcement, Mahesh Babu, CEO, Mahindra Electric said, "I am hugely bullish on India going forward with electric technology and it is clear that EVs are the way forward. We are working on three new products with higher range (between 250-350km) and we will announce them by 2019-2020." Also, earlier this year, the automaker had revealed that it is developing highly efficient electric powertrains with power outputs ranging from 90 to 165kW (120 to 204hp). Commenting on the plans, Babu further said, “These are going to be highly efficient PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor) and vector-controlled drive systems, taking the efficiency from 80 percent to 94 percent.”

Let’s understand the three upcoming EVs by Mahindra –

The first vehicle out of the three will be an electrified version of its KUV100 hatchback. The EV is expected to go on sale by the end-2018. According to the company, vehicle will be capable of reaching a top speed of 186kmph and will be capable of doing a 0-100kph in 9 seconds.

Talking about the second electric vehicle from the lot although, it is not officially confirmed yet but is expected to be Mahindra's own version of SsangYong’s Tivoli. Under the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) the EV is most likely to deliver a real-world range of 250km. Also, the vehicle will reach the sprint of 0-100kmph in 11 seconds and will have a top speed of 150kmph. According to the reports, Mahindra is already developing a crossover in co-operation with its Korean subsidiary for introduction in late 2018.

The third and last EV of the three announced EVs by Mahindra will be will be based on the automakers one of most popular compact SUV, the XUV500 and could very well be the electric version of the XUV Aero. The Mahindra XUV500 Aero SUV-coupé concept was showcased at the 2016 Auto Expo. Also, earlier this year, Pawan Goenka - MD, Mahindra had hinted at the electric XUV Aero being "one of the options that the company is investigating". Although, he cautioned that production would heavily depend on the cost of the high-voltage powertrain technology, however, the automaker did reveal that the range of the EV will be of 300km (as per NEDC tests) and a 0-100kph claimed time of 8 seconds.

Also, Mahindra believes that the Indian auto market is ready to witness a significant increase in EV adoption with projections suggesting 38 percent of total passenger vehicle sales coming from EVs by 2030. However, this figure might even go to up to 60 percent in case of hyper-adoption of the technology. In 2016-17, electric car sales in India stood at 2,000 units, accounting for a meager 0.07 percent of total passenger vehicle sales (3,046,727 units).

According to Mahesh Babu, Mahindra is also working on high-density batteries which are believed to enable electric cars to better compete with conventional petrol engines in range. He stated, “Our focus is also on high-density batteries, taking the density from 80Wh/kg to 200Wh/kg with up to seven times the pack energy capacity from 10kWh to 70kWh. These 48V to 650V systems will be capable of delivering real-world range of up to 400km with globally benchmarked BMS (battery management systems).”